Truth to Power

I began this morning drinking my Boca Java, South Beach Rhythm blend, and ushering out the guys. They are helping one of the Scouts with his Eagle project, this one for the Houston Arboretum. It's quite a back breaker involving some sort of path construction, from what I've been able to understand, so they'll be worn out when the work is finished today. It is in the mid 90's again here, sunny, and 'will feel like' 100 degrees. That whole 'will feel like' estimate drives my husband crazy. He's an engineer. He lives in a world of exact facts produced by proven methods. Guestimates send him over the edge. Don't ask him about global warming. I'm just sayin'.

So, as Max settled on the couch for his morning nap and Oreo settled down for a post breakfast nap in the back of the house in his favorite spot, right next to the sliding glass door so he can watch the creatures in the back yard, I began enjoying a quiet house all to myself. I watched two guests on C-SPAN's morning show talking about the process of choosing a college. Since we are there now with our son, it was a timely show for me. Kenneth Terrell, Assistant Managing editor for U.S. News and World Report and John Zmirak, Editor in Chief of Choosing the Right College Guide. It was an interesting discussion. One student from Emory University called in and Zmirak spoke about the resources available at Emory. It is a very well -endowed school, very wealthy from its alums, and Zmirak commented about everything on campus being gold-plated. That amused me. I attended another private liberal arts university in Atlanta, smaller and not so wealthy and what he said was true even back then.

The world is my son's oyster right now, at this point in time. He is receiving propaganda from everywhere. Colleges large and small, private and public, state and out of state. He's received the usual inquiries from military recruiters, too. Army and Marines so far that I've seen. His dad is an Air Force veteran so that's interesting. Emory sends frequent recruiting material, by the way. See, lots of money for publishing materials and postage. Duke University, too. My son participated in a program of Duke's, beginning in 7th grade, which targets gifted students and offers testing and tracks them as they proceed through school. They offer summer enrichment opportunities, and the like. My son was in private school up until his high school years so he was among thousands in this program, I'm guessing. It's a clever way for Duke to groom its future applicants, I think.

Last night as I was reading articles I'd printed out during the day from Internet sources, I was struck by two related articles. The first from the New York Post. This article reported that Hillary Clinton declared that if our country is attacked before the election in 2008, it will be to the Republican candidate's advantage. "But if certain things happen between now and the election, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no matter how badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they have made the world," she told supporters in Concord (N.H.).

"So I think I'm the best of the Democrats to deal with that, " she added.

Wow. So, we have the junior senator from the state of New York, hardest hit on 9/11/01, bringing terrorism into the political arena to declare her the strongest candidate for national protection.

The next article sort of answers Clinton's bravado. Zbigniew Brzezinski, formerly of the Carter administration as a national security advisor, said, "Being a former first lady doesn't prepare you to be president." Holy cow. I hope he has a safe house lined up for his protection in the upcoming weeks. From Bloomberg.com, it's reported that Brzezinski is supporting Barack Obama for the nomination of presidential candidate. He says Clinton's foreign policy approach is very conventional and "I don't think the country needs to go back to what we had eight years ago." I agree rarely with Brzezinski. His former boss brought us today's problems with his ineptitude and naive outlook of the world. Not to mention Carter's hatred of the Jews and Israel. But I commend Brzezinski for speaking up about Hillary's feeling of entitlement for the nomination and the office of President simply by virtue of her hanging around the governor's mansion in Arkansas and the White House. If it were not for the deal she must have cut with Bill Clinton after the impeachment embarrassment, she wouldn't have been elected senator from New York. It's all been on his coattails, despite her boasts that she is no stand by your man woman. Of course she is a prime example of such a woman. She'll suffer any public humiliation as long as her goal for power is met. She could care less about the good of the country. It's her ego and what she wants to dictate.

For Hillary to politicize the threat of terrorism, after belittling the current administration for allegedly doing that during the 2004 election cycle, and for her to hide her papers from her time as first lady and the health care policy disaster of hers under the guise of privacy as they are now part of the Clinton Presidential library, as she accuses the current administration of extraordinary secrecy, well, come on. Clinton and Clinton claimed Executive Privilege more than any other President and co-President in recent times. They were leading the most indicted and corrupt administration since Nixon, a name she is fond of throwing out there with the fascism theme for this administration. She has no core. She has no inner guidance. She will say and do anything for an election victory and a grab for power. It's all about her.

Watch your knees, Zig.